nycdaug Chapter 336 Capturing a Prisoner
Chapter 336 Capturing a Prisoner
Two days later, at 7 a.m. on March 30th, Li Chenglong had just finished exercising in the gym of the Shuguang Building when Yang Liu rushed in. She said happily, "Captain Li, we've finished investigating the matter you asked us to handle. According to our special forces members who went to investigate, Qin Wan, that female zombie, came to inspect a zombie camp in Beihu Province yesterday. This is a perfect opportunity."
Li Chenglong wiped his sweat and said, "Okay, you, Wang Shuang, and Zhao Liying come with me. The four of us will go capture a prisoner." Since Han Feng had already gone beyond the maximum coverage area of the crystal network and couldn't be contacted, they needed to capture a prisoner to find out the latest situation inside the zombie horde. However, because the zombie hierarchy was very strict, they needed to capture a high-ranking zombie. Qin Wan's appearance conveniently solved this problem.
A short while later, the four arrived at the Dawn City Air Force Base and boarded the X2 spaceship, heading southwest. When they were 50km from the zombie camp, Li Chenglong and his companions didn't land the spaceship but instead parachuted in. Their target was an abandoned village; they planned to stay there until nightfall before launching their operation.
As soon as they arrived, Wu Ruilan and Jin Mengqi, who were in charge of the preliminary investigation, came to join them. Both Jin Mengqi and Wu Ruilan are currently level 11 and are dual-type wind-elemental ability users, making them perfectly suited for this kind of mission.
Jin Mengqi opened a sketch they had drawn together and said to everyone, "This zombie camp is one of the closest to human territory. It's not very big, but there are many high-level zombies. Since neither of us has any sense abilities, we don't know exactly how many there are or how high their levels are. As for that female zombie named Qin Wan, she came to this camp at 8 pm last night. It seems she came to inspect it. In order not to alert her, we didn't dare to get too close."
Li Chenglong and the others discussed their plan for the night. After 11 PM, the other five, excluding Li Chenglong, would attack one side of the zombie camp first, while he would use his dimensional portal to enter the camp and quickly capture Qin Wan. Once he had captured her, he would notify Yang Liu and the others, who would then quickly escape the zombies and reunite with Li Chenglong.
Li Chenglong checked the time; it was only 9 a.m., still a long way from night. However, since the area was close to the zombie camp and there were zombie cavalry patrols coming and going from time to time, he did not assign any more reconnaissance missions.
Currently, all members of the special forces team capable of reaching level 11 have been upgraded to level 11 by Li Chenglong using his abilities; a total of eight people. The others either just reached level 10 or have too low a potential to reach level 11. After upgrading so many people, Li Chenglong also discovered that each ability user can only be successfully upgraded once at most; those with very low potential probably won't succeed even once. For example, Zhao Rui, a level 10 strength-type ability user, is the lowest potential ability user; reaching level 10 is already extremely difficult, considering that many speed-type and strength-type ability users in Dawn City are currently stuck at level 9 and unable to upgrade. Li Chenglong's attempt to upgrade Zhao Rui two days ago failed.
Zhao Rui remained calm about not being able to level up to level 11. He stated that he didn't have much ambition or aspiration; reaching level 10 was already quite good. He's now a regimental commander, married, and has a lovely daughter. Therefore, he feels extremely happy, much happier than before the apocalypse, and no longer desires anything more. Wang Bing, who also failed to reach level 11, was equally composed. As the principal of a school for young superhumans, he finds his days fulfilling and has gradually come to love his job. He dedicates himself to his work every day, contributing in various ways.
Li Chenglong and several others sat in a farmer's living room, chatting about their pasts. They were all comrades from the special forces and knew each other well, so everyone was curious about Li Chenglong's past. Li Chenglong patiently recounted his story. However, he mainly talked about Awakened Ones and Superhumans, as well as his previous visit to Hailan Star.
At the same time, Li Chenglong also stated his goals: to strive for peace throughout China by June and to gather as many allies as possible globally by September to jointly resist the impending alien crisis. Seeing that the women were somewhat downcast at the thought of the alien coalition arriving in six months, Li Chenglong quickly offered his response.
He chuckled and said, "Although the alien alliance we currently know of includes the Kiel aliens, the Bozan aliens, the Dane aliens, and mechanical lifeform space pirates, we are not alone in the universe. Miss Erica contacted me again a few days ago. Their Sky City has already gathered warriors from different planets, totaling over 20. Moreover, their Sky City has been upgraded to Level 4, reaching its highest level. Erica told me that as long as we can hold out for a while, their support forces will arrive. The main problem is that there are too many of them, and they have relatively few mechs capable of jump navigation, making their flight relatively slow."
Upon learning of the arrival of reinforcements, the group regained some confidence. To reward everyone at noon, Li Chenglong treated them to hot pot. The hot pot was served in a copper stove with charcoal; because high-quality charcoal was used, there was little smoke, preventing them from being detected by the zombie patrols.
At the dinner table, Li Chenglong shared some good news: with his advancement to level 12 and the extended period of growth, the 10 psionic apple trees in the natural area of his psionic space were bearing more fruit. Currently, each tree can produce 40 fruits per month, a full 20 more than when he was at level 11, resulting in a total monthly yield of 400 fruits.
As for the allocation of the 400 psionic apples each month, Li Chenglong decided to give 300 to the Dawn Army, 50 to Dawn City, and 50 to be sold to the public. The price would remain the same as before: 5 level 8 purple crystals. Yang Liu and the others nodded, expressing their complete agreement with this arrangement. The psionic apples had been being sold for several months now, and they were always snapped up instantly as soon as they were brought out, with some people even buying double or several times the amount.
This is understandable. After all, even with the highest probability level 8 purple crystal, the success rate is only 88%. Although that 12% may not seem like much, it is a gamble that neither those in high positions nor their families can afford to take.
It was 11 PM, and Li Chenglong and his group had reached a point two kilometers from the zombie camp. Getting any closer would likely alert them to the sensory-type zombies. Li Chenglong put on his Bluetooth headset and said, "Begin the operation." He then vanished from the spot. The five women stood up and began rushing towards the zombie camp, gathering energy as they went.
The zombie camp resembled an ancient military camp, divided into individual tents, each containing zombies. Squads of zombies patrolled the roads, the lowest level being level 5. The female zombie Qin Wan was reading in the central tent. Zombies didn't have much entertainment; high-level zombies like her, who had fully regained their intelligence and appearance, usually just read or played ball. Although some electricity had been restored on the zombie side, it was far inferior to that of Dawn City. The zombies could only use their precious electricity to operate important facilities such as factories.
Qin Wan, who was reading, suddenly heard an explosion and several energy fluctuations in the distance. Soon after, two level 10 zombies entered, reporting that humans had launched a nighttime attack. Qin Wan carefully sensed their presence and discovered that there were actually five level 11 humans. She immediately took out something resembling a communicator, intending to say something. Before she could act, she felt herself being restrained and transported to a strange space. This space was filled with scattered stars and bursts of aurora, but mostly it was filled with terrifying darkness, a darkness that seemed to extend into the depths, as if it could devour everything.
Qin Wan began to struggle desperately, and then she heard a man say, "Don't move. If I let go, you'll fall. Do you want to fall in this situation?" Qin Wan looked down and saw a huge, dark vortex slowly rotating, sucking in all the light, whether it was rosy clouds or any other kind of light. Qin Wan stopped moving, letting the man hold her by his side like a sack, and fly her away into the distance.
A moment later, an exit appeared in the pitch-black space, and Li Chenglong leaped out, Qin Wan tucked under his right arm. Although Qin Wan felt she had been in this mysterious and terrifying space for several minutes, only a few seconds had passed outside. By this time, Li Chenglong had brought her to a location more than ten kilometers away from the zombie camp. Yang Liu and the others, having received his communication, also began to rush towards him.
Li Chenglong put Qin Wan down and said, "Don't even think about escaping. If you try, I won't kill you. Instead, I'll put you in that space and let you endure the boundless darkness and the fear of being swallowed up at any moment." Qin Wan felt her throat go dry, and the thought of escaping vanished.
A few minutes later, Yang Liu and the other four arrived to meet up. Li Chenglong ordered the X2 spaceship, which was already waiting high in the sky, to prepare. Then, he used his right arm to hold Qin Wan, and his left hand to hold Yang Liu's hand. The other women also held hands tightly. A red light flashed in Li Chenglong's right eye, and they instantly disappeared from their spot, reappearing inside the X2 spaceship.